This invention relates to a clamping system, where the clamps can be moved along a shaft from zero to a fixed maximum distance along the shaft and allow the clamps that are part of the clamping system to rotate 360 degrees on said shaft. This clamping system will permit the temporary attachment of elongated elements, which in most instances have a tubular component, to a transport device. These elongated elements include, but are not limited to medical stands, golf clubs, guns, lamps, etc.
There are a number of inventions that are used to attach medical stands to patient transport devices such as wheelchairs, gurneys, or beds. The Ohanian U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,260 (2001), the Boettger U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,539 (1994), the Scharf U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,680 (1996), the Sheehan U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,036 (1993), the Sims U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,670 (1999), the Schneider U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,391 (1989), the Ambach U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,961 (1999) the Gross U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,922 (1989), and the Wilt U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,157 (1985) describe devices with bases that attaches to a transport device. All of these patents require a modification of the transport device for a clamp to attach to said transport device. For example, in the Ohanian invention, there is an extension arm, terminating with a clamping portion that grasps a medical stand. The clamping portion is attached to a base that is part of a modified transport device. These inventions have other limitations For example, in the Boettger and the Sims inventions their clamping arms cannot be adjusted. This fixes the position of, for example, an attached medical stand very close to the frame of the transport device. The Scharf invention has the opposite problem. The Scharf invention places an attached stand far from the transport device. Placing the attached stand far from the transport device interferes with the movement of the transport device through hallways and in elevators. This arrangement may also place the base of a medical stand in a position that will interfere with pushing the transport device.
Other inventions do not require modification of the transport devices, but the units require some effort to attach a medical stand to the transport device. The Young U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,768 (1990) consists of two metal strips held together by a hinge terminating in clamp ends. Due to this device""s lack of adjustability, this device will only attach to a vertical support member on the transport device, and because of its configuration, it will either interfere with pushing the transport device or will make the transport device more difficult to maneuver through a hallway or in an elevator. The Trickett U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,213 (1993), the Kerr U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,209 (1986) and the Burnett U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,166 (1996) do not require a modification of the transport device, but like the Boettger invention, because it cannot be adjusted, the position of the attached medical stand is fixed very close to the frame of the transport device. Again, this arrangement may place the base of the medical stand in a position that will interfere with pushing the transport device.
Other devices such as Pryor U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,324 (1995) and Slone U.S. Pat. No. 6,231,016 (2001) not only require modifications of the transport device, but they also require the transfer of IV bags from a standard medical stand to a clamp based pole having a support for an IV bag or pump.
The present invention is an improvement over prior art because, unlike inventions such as Smith U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,074 (1994) or Gospodarich U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,148 (1997), this invention is simple and quick to attach and remove from objects. Unlike other inventions, this invention does not require any modification of a transport device, and, unlike the Young U.S. Pat. No. 4969,768 (1990), due to its pivoting head, there is no constraint on the clamping surface configuration of the transport device. The present invention is also an improvement over prior art, such as the Boettger U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,988 (1997), because its configuration is quite adjustable, without a loss of strength. Finally, in the present invention, there is no requirement for transferring IV bags or a medical apparatus from one pole to another.
This invention discloses clamps that can be used to hold elongated objects such as medical stands, golf clubs, etc. Each clamp consists of a holding clamp assembly 2 and an attachment clamp assembly 4 held together by a rod 13. Both the holding clamp assembly and attachment clamp assembly can be moved along said rod 13 and locked into position along said rod 13 by a ratchet assembly 15 or rotated around an axis (the rod 13) to permit the precise attachment to an object.